Nairobi County tenants face eviction in crackdown to recover over Ksh.200M from rent defaulters

The Nairobi County Government has launched a major crackdown to recover rent arrears from tenants living in county-owned housing, some of whom have reportedly gone years without making any payments.

Speaking during the launch of the operation, Nairobi Housing Chief Officer Lydia Mathia expressed alarm at the scale of default, disclosing that tenants in key estates such as Woodley, Kariokor, Uhuru, Ngara, and Harambee collectively owe the county an estimated Ksh.200 million.

“It is disturbing that some tenants are paying as little as Ksh.11,000 to Ksh.17,000 for two-bedroom houses with compounds in areas where similar properties fetch over Ksh.50,000 — yet they still refuse to pay even that reduced amount,” Mathia said. “Meanwhile, they expect the county to continue providing services like garbage collection and water.”

Mathia confirmed that the county has deployed officers across the affected estates to enforce rent collection.

“We have already dispatched our officers and will ensure that every shilling owed is recovered. We urge residents to understand that the government runs on taxes and service payments. When people default, it directly affects the county’s ability to deliver services,” she added.

She emphasized that the county would not back down.

“We shall not allow this to continue,” she warned. “To these are who are not paying — we are coming to collect without fail.”

In parallel, Nairobi Governor Sakaja Johnson reaffirmed his commitment to the county’s urban renewal program, which targets 13 estates for redevelopment. Noting that many of the current estates were constructed decades ago, when Nairobi’s population was around 2 million. 

Today, that number has surged to over 7 million, placing tremendous strain on the city’s infrastructure.

Governor Sakaja cited ongoing redevelopment efforts in Woodley Estate, where residents from 43 units have been compensated Ksh.900,000 each and issued allotment letters to facilitate the construction of 1,975 modern housing units. He assured them they would each receive a new unit once the project is completed.